VICTORIAN ARCHITECTURE MEDAL AND MELBOURNE PRIZE (Northern Memorial Park Depot, Searle x Waldron Architecture) WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: Hamish Lyons, chair of the juries, says the depot is 鈥渁 really unique piece of architecture鈥 as it is built for trucks coming in and out as well as people arriving in a bereaved state and the people who work there every day and deal with death on a daily basis.
鈥淚t鈥檚 created a community of people that all worked in the same area but never really knew each other,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 got a folded green facade that works well against the existing trees, but it鈥檚 a perforated screen, so when you鈥檙e on the outside, you get this diaphanous view through to the interior. So it doesn鈥檛 feel like an administrative bunker or a depot. It actually feels like a building that鈥檚 inhabited by people, and it has a sense of welcome.鈥